Exciting play at our August meeting

September 8, 2014

Barbara Dixon made the trip from Lafayette, Indiana to Charleston for the August Club meeting and played OUTDUEL as one of her three bingos on the day, following some “open board” Scrabble consultation from Mr. Director. Barbara put some of the tips she’d received to good use when she had the audacity to subsequently defeat her mentor a short time later! Barbara also played RAINLESS, which takes a B and a G front hook in the North American (TWL) dictionary and a T front hook in the international (CSW) dictionary. If someone misremembers and plays REINLESS at the next club meeting, she needn’t worry; it’s acceptable, too!

Overcoming the sting of his defeat, Mr. Director played NOVERCAL, which means “pertaining to a stepmother” in his next game.

August Feature Bingo

The bedazzling Mary Maddox played two bingos containing a Z, SEIZING and ZEALOTS, amongst her six bingos. Perhaps it should not have been SURPRIZING (an acceptable variant) that she also  won all four of her games, averaging 420 points per game while doing so!

Stevie Momaly, an outstanding student of physics at EIU, played EMERSED, an adjective meaning “rising above the water”! This exceptional play drew an unsuccessful challenge and propelled Stevie to a well deserved five point victory!

Though not really comparable to EMERSED, two “comparative” bingos, MASSIER and SPINIER, were played by English professor, Angela Vietto.

Wendy Edwards also played solidly, making GRANITE as well as STAGERS.

Daiva Markelis’ knowledge of “six-to-make-eight” stems paid off when she played PARIETES (SATIRE + P and E) and VARIATED (TIRADE + A and V).

The Word Book by Mike Baron, contains lists of such stems, and is sold in bookstores for about $10. And “Zyzzyva” is a free, easily downloaded computer program for those interested in word study for Scrabble.

In other August news, three Charleston club regulars participated in the National Scrabble Championship in Buffalo, New York, which attracted more than 500 players. Marty Gabriel placed ninth in the CSW (international dictionary) Division; Scott Garner placed thirteenth in TWL Division 1; Daiva Markelis placed twenty-fourth in TWL Division 3. Congrats to Marty, Scott, and Daiva, and to those who helped them by providing challenging and enjoyable competition throughout the year.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Angela September 18, 2014 at 12:53 am

Speaking of the Word Book, any word on whether / when a revision for the new dictionary might be available?

Dreambeast7 September 18, 2014 at 2:29 pm

Hi Angela,

Here’s Marty’s reply:

“It’s available now. Troy Thompson has a bunch of them that he’ll be selling at next month on second weekend at the Indianapolis tourney(s).
“I’ll be happy to pick one up for someone if they’d like. They can also be ordered from NASPA, but then there are shipping costs that would be reduced by getting a book through Troy.”

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